Helm Hammerhand
Helm Hammerhand was known in history as the ninth king to rule Rohan and last King of the first line. His rule was plagued by war with the Dunlendings, who attempted to usurp his rule of Rohan during the Second Age. Such grim events had their roots many years before, when Helm felled a man who had insulted him with a single blow, thus earning the name of Hammerhand. When a powerful Dunlending Warlord Siric wanted to have Helm's daughter Bérnwyn in marriage, the angry king denied it. Upon being ambushed by Siric before the Long Winter, Helm was offered a Ring of Power by Sauron and Celebrimbor. Returned to life and fueled by vengeance, he besieged Siric's fortress and in his rage, struck and killed his own daughter. He became consumed in fury and killed everyone inside the fortress as cold corruptive killer. By the power of the Ring that Sauron gave to him, he was granted immortality and became one of the nine Nazgûl that served the Dark Lord for all time. When Sauron fell at the end of the Second Age, Helm Hammerhand passed into the shadow of the east, but reappeared along with the Dark Lord after a thousand years has passed. He reestablished his rule of Khand and expanded his kingdom into northern Harad. However, he and the Nazgûl were slain during the Angmar War and buried within the High Fells of Rhudaur. However, he was soon raised by his dark master in the fortress of Dol Guldur. He took part in the Nazgûl attack on Minas Ithil, and reoccupied the Tower of Sorcery while Sauron returned to Mordor. Helm was a skilled rider from the East where he served as a messenger and spy across the Plains of Rohan, whose heads he is said to collect and leave hanging from the branches of Fangorn. He was responsible for preparing the way when the Nazgûl left Mordor in search of the One Ring. He was sent along with rest of the Nine to seek for the One Ring and was caught up in the white waters at the Ford of the Bruinen, that destroyed his precious black steeds. As with the other Winged Nazgûl, he perished at the end of the Third Age along with the remaining Ringwraiths in the fiery ruin of Mount Doom when the One Ring was destroyed and Sauron fell for the last time. Biography Early Life Born in SA 2691, Helm Hammerhand was the son of King Gram and Queen Marcswith of Rohan. In life, Hammerhand was a powerful but known in Rohan to be a very grim man, who resented fools and did not suffer them gladly, which caused him to make enemies both outside his kingdom and court, as well as within in. As he himself stated, he was a great hunter, having hunted every beast in Mordor. Described a grim man of great strength, Hammerhand was a legend on the battlefield, revered for his stamina which caused some to believe he had the capacity to fight for days on end without rest, with nothing but his own hands as his weapons. Later on in SA 2722, Helm married a beautful Rohirrim woman named Éowyn Ethelfléd and would go on to have four children; Haleth Helmson (SA 2726), Bérnwyn (SA 2731), Háma Helmson (SA 2737), and Aelda (SA 2740). Helm loved his children and taught them the values to defend Rohan from any evil that would dare to invade the land. His sister Hild would give birth to a son named Fréaláf Hildeson a few months after Haleth was born. In the year SA 2754, a man named Freca, a Dunlending with Rohirric blood planned to have his son, Wulf, marry Princess Aelda. At the same time, a powerful Rohirrim warlord known as Siric had recently rescued Princess Bérnwyn from being killed by a group of Dunlendings. He rode to Edoras with her and proposed the exact same thing in offering to marry Bérnwyn since he truly loved her while Freca and Wulf brought a great force of their men, planning to threaten the King to comply with his demands, but Helm Hammerhand smote him with his fist and Freca died soon thereafter. He also refused to allow Siric to marry his daughter and rejected the Warlord's plea. The King of the Riddermark then declared Siric, Wulf, his family, and all their kin and allies to be enemies of Rohan. New War Falling into Darkness Four years later, Helm had recently been at war with Wulf, who rebelled against the king to avenge his father’s death, led an army of Dunlendings across the river Isen from the West. As Wulf led an army of Dunlendings to invaded Rohan from the northwest, just as an allied Easterling army struck across the Anduin, Rohan was nearly at Wulf's mercy, for the Riders could not defeat both enemies. The Rohirrim had to flee into the vales of Ered Nimrais, despite fact that the heights were gripped by the chilly air of the First Long Winter and Rohan would soon be overrun. At some point, Helm came into conflict with Ûvatha Achef, one of the nine Nazgûl that swore their loyalty to Sauron. The mighty king slew him in conflict and even cut off his enemy's hand which held the Ring of Power. King Helm wasn't willing to lose hope in losing his kingdom to the enemy, so he decided to focus on his own plans to overwhelm the enemy. However, he decided to travel to Aldburg and bring his daughter Bérnwyn to be safe. While riding through the forest with his daughter, Helm suddenly came face-to-face with Siric, who told him that he should've been honorable in offering his daughter's hand to him since he wanted to make peace and prevent any more bloodshed from happening. Before Helm could do anything to defend his daughter and himself, Siric was quick to order his own Rohirrim archers to open fire him down with a flurry of arrows at point blank. Left to die, Helm was found by his son Haleth, who was leading a very large cavalry of riders that had just defeated a force of Dunlendings near the river Isen. He was safely brought back to Edoras and suffered in great pain while his fellow doctors and nurses were doing everything they could to help him. Nearing the end of his life, Helm was visited by Sauron (in the guise of his fair form Annatar) and Celebrimbor Telperinquar, who were hear to offer him power and way to be saved from dying. Weakly accepting their offer, Sauron placed the Ring of Power on the king's hand, and promised it will provide Bérnwyn's safe return. As the Ring of Power rapidly made him renewed, he would fall under its dark influence Filled with vengeance, Helm planned to rescue his daughter from Siric's clutches and swore to kill him for what he did. However, even while Haleth, Fréaláf, Háma, Aelda, Fréawyn, Captain Fréan were concerned and worried of the King's madness and that there should be better way to resolve this without any bloodshed, Helm ignored their pleas and ordered Haleth to stay behind to defend Edoras from any incoming enemies while he, along with Háma and Captain Fréan, led a large battalion of Rohirrim soldiers to lay siege on Snowbourn and rescue Bérnwyn from the Warlord who had taken her. While his son Háma had been busy fighting outside the city, Helm and Fréan led a small handful of troops to confront Siric in his chamber. Even while Bérnwyn pleaded her lover not to fight her father and Siric warning the King that by killing him would start a war, Helm ignored his warning and plea, and openly declared that war had already come to him and his people for betraying Rohan. He then proceeded to kill Siric just before swinging at his enemy with his great war hammer. However, in an attempt to stop her father, his own daughter Bérnwyn stepped forward in front of his hammer, causing him to accidentally strike her down and kill her. Infuriated, he proceeded to take his hammer and kill both friend and foe alike in the chamber where his daughter died, even going as far as to kill Fréan, who desperately tried to calm him down. After the siege was over, Helm carried his daughter down the steps while his son Háma was horrified to have seen Bérnwyn slain. He then returned to Edoras with his son and the remaining troops that fought in the siege, and buried his daughter out of horror and grief, and swore that he will destroy all of his enemies to avenge her death. He and his younger son led a cavalry of riders to the Crossings of Isen and were ambushed by an army of Dunlendings. Helm unleashed his fury upon the eyes of his enemies and killed as many that came to him and would not stop until they were all perished. His son was able to calm him down and pleaded him to retreat since they were being overwhelmed. Despite the Ring's power over him, Helm listened to his son's plea and ordered a retreat. Eventually, Helm and his son led their forces and large number of villagers to seek refuge in the old fortress called the Hornburg at Helm's Deep (which was later renamed in his honor). Keeping the fortress fully guarded and protected, Helm sought to tell his son the truth on how he slew Bérnwyn, but before that could happen, a group of Rohirrim scouts rode to the Hornburg to inform the King that Edoras was under sisge. Hearing this, he immediately rallied as many soldiers to follow him and ride to Edoras to aid his son, but that was when a large army of Dunlendings arrived and besieged the fortress. Realizing that he could not escape to join Haleth and his forces in Edoras, Helm had to stay and defend the fortress until the enemy was defeated. Upon hearing the news of Wulf seizing Edoras and slew Haleth, who had been defending the doors of the Golden Hall, Helm continued to fall more through anger, despair, and grief as he fought against the enemy. He and his son continued to hold the fortress during the Long Winter. As more Dunlendings continued to come, the powerful King would always blow his great war-horn, and broke through the Dunlending ranks, clad in white, stalking men like a Snow Troll and slaying them with his bare hands. A year later, his son Háma led by a small force of soldiers and volunteers to search for food, but they were lost in a terrible blizzard and never seen again. This caused Helm to become even more fierce and terrible. The Hornburg held a large war-horn, and whenever it was blown, Helm continued to break through the Dunlending ranks, slaying many of them that he sees. Everytime the horn was heard, it would fill the Dunlendings with fear which causes. At some point before the Long Winter ended, Helm went on to fight by himself and engage a small force Dunlendings while most turned away in fear and retreated back to Edoras and Dunland. He suddenly disappeared during a terrible snowstorm and did not return. His soldiers spent days searching for their lost king until they managed to find him frozen in the snow still standing, his eyes open, and ready to fight against his foe. War of the Last Alliance Years after his nephew Fréaláf Hildeson, who defeated the Dunlendings and became the new ruling King of Rohan, Helm was a member of the Nazgûl and was considered as powerful if not more so than he was in life, and served the Dark Lord Sauron. He appeared to become a great beast master, commanding forces of Ghûls, Caragors, Graugs and Drakes, using them for various activities. Despite replacing Ûvatha, Helm served as the new Horseman and was ordered by his dark master to take command of the Ioriags, who became one of the dark lord's most useful and most heinous tools of conquest. In SA 3259, the Horseman, now fully dressed in his own armor and keeping his face hidden, led his main battle army across Relmether and over the Talathrant. For the next two years, the Ioriags fought beside the Chailûza warriors of the Ulair Ren the Unclean, leading to the Chailûza conquest of the Khargagis Ahar. Ûvatha’s warriors received half of the booty exacted from the defeated Ahar and then returned home to Kha-on. Just as they arrived, however, the first armada of the Númenórean King Ar-Pharazon arrived at Um. Their invasion and the subsequent overwhelming show of Adan arms led to the surrender of Sauron of Mordor a year later. As the Dark Lord resided as a captive on the island continent of Númenor, Helm hid from the forces of Westernesse in his secretive hold at later Olbamarl in the mountains of Northern Kha-On. It wasn't long when the Dark Lord resumed his reign in Mordor in SA 3319 after the Downfall of Númenor and Helm came out of hiding and went into Mordor in order to serve his master. Acting as Sauron’s Messenger, he participated in the campaigns waged by Sauron’s troops in Rhovanion and Ithilien beginning in SA 3429. He then ventured towards the Dark Tower in SA 3434 when it was besieged by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and he passed into the Shadows when the fortress of Barad-Dûr fell and Sauron lost his Ruling Ring at the end of the Second Age. Attack on Dol Guldur In TA 2941, Helm Hammerhand and the rest of the Nine had awakened when their master, disguised as the Necromancer, broke into the High Fells of Rhudaur and brought them to stay guard in the old fortress of Dol Guldur. Shadow Wars Claiming Minas Ithil With his fellow Nazgûl as well as the Orc armies of Sauron, Hammerhand assisted in the siege and eventual claiming of Minas Ithil as well as the Palantir, facing Talion in the Great Hall where the Palantir was kept. Despite he and his fellow Ring-wraith's initially losing this fight, they still claimed both city and Seeing Stone. Attempted Seizure of The New Ring Shortly after claiming Minas Ithil and the city's transformation into Minas Morgul, Helm was sent with his fellow Nazgûl to seize The New Ring, crafted by Celebrimbor and Talion. To this end, they travelled to Shelob's cave beneath Cirith Ungol and attacked her in an attempt to force her to give up the ring. However this attack was thwarted by the timely arrival of Talion and Eltariel, who fought back against the Nazgûl before they were forced out of Shelob's cave by Eltariel and her use of the Light of Galadriel. Siege of Seregost At some point after the failed attempt to claim Celebrimbor's Ring, Hammerhand ventured to the icy region of Seregost to attack the fortress Khargukôr, assaulting the city with a great force of Mordor's beasts, including Ghȗls, Graugs and Drakes, soon facing of against the ranger Talion, who was present at the attack and working to defend the fortress. Despite his best efforts, even coming close to striking down Talion with his great war hammer during the latter's attempt to banish the Nazgûl with Celebrimbor, Hammerhand was ultimately pushed out of the icy fortress after Eltariel intervened, using Galadriel's light to push him back, and he fled to Seregost's icy peaks, awaiting Talion's arrival for their second showdown. When Talion arrived, with Eltariel in tow, the Nazgûl descended, declaring that his master commanded Talion serve him, before threatening Eltariel, claiming he would take her head and hands as trophies. Doing battle with Talion a second time, he fought viciously, calling drakes to assist him in battle. Despite this, he again lost to the ranger and Wraith, and after they looked inside him and saw his life's story, he fled once more. After this point, he is not seen again until Talion falls to Isildur's Ring of Power's corrupting influence, and Hammerhand's former foe joins him in death, becoming a Nazgûl like him. War of the Ring Mirkwood The Horseman served and Sauron’s best link to the Hill of Sorcery, and he made frequent journeys to both Barad-Dûr and Minas Morgul. He acted as a tireless courier carrying message between Khamul, the Witch-king and the Sauron. This permitted Sauron to plan the buildup of the two armies he assembled outside of Gorgoroth (those of Dol Guldur and Minas Morgul). Both of these forces attacked the Free Peoples which led to the start of the War of the Ring. While Khamul commanded the forces based in Mirkwood, Helm was given full command to prepare the abortive strike against Thranduil’s realm in northern Greenwood. Search for the One Ring Following his defeat, word was reached that the One Ring eventually resurfaces in the Shire and Hammerhand, along with his fellow Nazgûl, traveled to the Shire in pursuit of the new Ring-Bearer. Before reaching the Shire, Helm rode with Khamul and Adunaphel south during their search for the One Ring. The three Black Riders travelled into Nan Anduin, where they joined the Witch-King and the other five Nazgûl on their quest to find the One Ring in the Shire. First, they traveled near the Gladden Fields, but then turned south, skirted Lórien and rode through Rohan and past Isengard into Eriador. Personality and Traits Described as a grim man of great strength, Helm was powerful, but he did not suffer fools gladly. He worked hard, fought hard, and played hard, never showing fear or reluctance, or shying away from a challenge. Fiercely protective of his realm and his family — particularly the women — Helm was exceptionally loyal and potentially explosive. He smiled or maintained a gentle air, even when he was on the verge of committing a very violent act. Helm might appear rather placid, or even jovial, just before attacking with utter ferocity. Gallery Tumblr_nhb8vfgbla1t6saleo7_1280.jpg|Concept art of Helm Hammerhand HalmHammerhand.png|Helm Hammerhand appearing in Middle-earth: Shadow of War Appearances *''Middle-earth: Shadow of War'' *''The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'' *''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (First appearance) *''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' *''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' Category:Humans Category:Kings of Rohan Category:Males Category:Mordorians Category:Nazgûl Category:Rohirrim Category:Wraiths